Hey, I Can Do That! Learning jQuery by Teaching jQuery by Doing jQuery By Karl Swedberg

Introduction Obligatory joke about those who can’t do…

Obligatory joke about those who can’t do…

What Am I Talking About? The magic of discovering new things by explaining what you think you already knew

The magic of discovering new things by explaining what you think you already knew

Why Bother Talking About It? jQuery’s success is not just a result of its exceptional code

jQuery’s success is not just a result of its exceptional code

Opportunities to Teach Official wiki: http://docs.jquery.com Anybody can improve the documentation. Open to the public Plugins Blogs Books

Official wiki: http://docs.jquery.com

Anybody can improve the documentation. Open to the public

Plugins

Blogs

Books

Rhetorical Considerations Rhetoric: (n.) The art of putting the right words in the right places to achieve an effect

Aristotelian Rhetoric Logos (reason, logic, etc.) Ethos (credibility of speaker, etc.) Pathos (emotional appeal)

Logos (reason, logic, etc.)

Ethos (credibility of speaker, etc.)

Pathos (emotional appeal)

Embracing and Extending Aristotle S peaker O ccasion A udience P urpose S ubject Tone SOAPSTone

S peaker

O ccasion

A udience

P urpose

S ubject

Tone

Speaker Who are you? How well do people know you? How much do you want people to know about you? What can you get away with? Consider citations (a.k.a. name dropping)

Who are you?

How well do people know you?

How much do you want people to know about you?

What can you get away with?

Consider citations (a.k.a. name dropping)

What prompted the writing? Explicit vs. implicit prompts

Explicit vs. implicit prompts

Audience What is their level of expertise? What is their relationship to you (the speaker)? Beware of Unintended Audiences

What is their level of expertise?

What is their relationship to you (the speaker)?

Beware of Unintended Audiences

Purpose What do you hope to achieve? After the audience has read it, what do you want them to be able to do? Secondary purposes? Ulterior motives?

What do you hope to achieve?

After the audience has read it, what do you want them to be able to do?

Secondary purposes?

Ulterior motives?

Subject (and other stuff) Structure / outline Code-to-prose ratio Length

Structure / outline

Code-to-prose ratio

Length

Tone Diction (a.k.a. choice of words) Can affect the level of formality Watch out for polarizing terms Personal Pronouns have an effect on ethos (speaker’s credibility, etc.)

Diction (a.k.a. choice of words)

Can affect the level of formality

Watch out for polarizing terms

Personal Pronouns have an effect on ethos (speaker’s credibility, etc.)

Tone – First-person singular (“I”) works well with narrative style Use with past tense to tell a story, describe process Can use the “slow reveal” Can affect the humble-to-arrogant spectrum – in both directions

works well with narrative style

Use with past tense to tell a story, describe process

Can use the “slow reveal”

Can affect the humble-to-arrogant spectrum – in both directions

Tone – First-person plural (“we”) Good for walking through code Inclusive pronoun draws readers in, comforts them, engages Can create a welcoming tone

Good for walking through code

Inclusive pronoun draws readers in, comforts them, engages

Can create a welcoming tone

Tone - Second-person (“you” [understood]) When used exclusively, implies a higher level of authority Dangerous can increase distance between speaker and audience can seem patronizing, produce a pedantic tone Best when used in official documentation or when replying to a specific person about a particular issue

When used exclusively, implies a higher level of authority

Dangerous

can increase distance between speaker and audience

can seem patronizing, produce a pedantic tone

Best when used in official documentation or when replying to a specific person about a particular issue

The Blessing & The Curse of Documentation Writing Reputation, prestige Overload, overwhelm, overeverything

Reputation, prestige

Overload, overwhelm, overeverything